Saturday, September 17, 2016

Chilcot Report and the delusions of Western democracy - "Now, when this very democratically elected UK prime minister cheated, lied, fabricated false evidence, engaged in massive propaganda, went on a rampage about "terrorism" in order to join the United States to invade Iraq, was he the military strongman of a Third World dictatorship or was he in fact the democratically elected prime minister of a Western liberal democracy?...
Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies ad Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York."To limit myself just to the first 3 leaps of logic that come to mind:
1) As per the Chilcot Report, "There were no lies - there was no deceit"
2) Blair and Bush neither intended nor commissioned the murder of "hundreds of thousands". You might as well blame Albert Einstein for making the atomic bomb possible and so being responsible for Hiroshima and Nagasaki
3) Many sections of the press were openly skeptical - indeed hostile, to the Iraq War, even before it started
I hope his research isn't as badly argued as this

Glasgow mosque leader praises extremist killer - "The religious leader at Scotland's biggest mosque has praised an extremist who was executed for committing murder in Pakistan, the BBC can reveal. Imam Maulana Habib Ur Rehman of Glasgow Central Mosque used the messaging platform WhatsApp to show his support for Mumtaz Qadri. Qadri was hanged in February after murdering a local politician who opposed strict blasphemy laws... Maulana Habib Ur Rehman is the most senior imam at Glasgow Central Mosque, a role which involves leading prayers and giving religious guidance and teachings... The support for Qadri expressed in the UK by some Muslims from a group within Islam that is generally regarded as moderate was unexpected. Those supporting his actions came from within Sunni Islam, and a group known as Barelvis, who control just under 40% of mosques in the UK. These Sufis are not generally connected with jihadist groups, and present themselves in Pakistan and elsewhere as defenders of a moderate, peaceful Islam. However, on the day of Qadri's funeral, one of the co-directors of the Association of British Muslims, Paul Salahuddin-Armstrong, was so shocked by comments on social media in the UK praising the killer that he wrote a blog post. "Horrified… I honestly don't know where to begin," he said. He said he was also "appalled" to find a prominent mosque in Birmingham - the Ghamkol Sharif - had termed Qadri a "martyr" on its website... the Imam refers to Qadri as "brother" and says that, by killing his employer whom he was paid to protect, he was "carrying out the collective responsibility of the ummat," or Muslims as a whole. His execution, he says, "is a collective failure of Pakistani Muslims"... The Imam also likens Qadri's actions to those fighting Nazi occupation during World War Two."

China tells Japan to stop interfering in South China Sea - "Meeting in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, Li told Abe that China's stance on the South China Sea was completely in line with international law, state news agency Xinhua reported. "Japan is not a state directly involved in the South China Sea issue, and thus should exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering", Li said, according to Xinhua. Japan's Kyodo news agency said Abe told Li that a rules-based international order must be respected. The agency also said Abe and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had agreed the ruling must be observed."International law = obeying China

Singapore’s Response to Family Violence: 1997 to 2007— what comes next? Accessibility & Dissemination - "The most notable information is that Indians are clearly over-represented (Malays and Others may also be, however this is less clear) and Chinese are underrepresented, in comparison with populations levels, of those seeking services... Historically and currently, the out-of-bound markers for public dialogue have built a fence around addressing cultural issues in any way that would undermine racial harmony (Chia, 2005). However, we are ignoring “the elephant in the room” if we remain silent on the role of culture in family violence."How can we blame this on Chinese Privilege?

Leaked document says 2,000 men allegedly assaulted 1,200 German women on New Year’s Eve - "Officials have linked the sexual assaults to the influx of refugees. "There is a connection between the emergence of this phenomenon and the rapid migration in 2015," Holger Münch, president of the German Federal Crime Police Office, told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Many suspects had originally come to Germany from North African countries rather than Syria, officials said."

Home Office told: 'Don't eat in front of Muslims during Ramadan' - "the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, which claims to be fighting a ‘political jihad against Islamophobia’, attacked the document. It said: “It is designed to create more hatred in the hearts of non-Muslims. We don’t care how much non-Muslims eat in front of us. “It’s never been an issue and never will be and we have never asked for any special treatment or sensitivity from non-Muslims whilst fasting.”"

'They have a lot of terms and conditions' - "All over Singapore, hawker stalls are suffering the same plight - a shortage of manpower... "Singaporeans want to sleep until 8, but by 8 we've started work. I beg you to let us hire foreigners""

English Heritage 'deadly serious' about bid to get jousting into Olympics - "jousting should be seen as England’s first national sport. Jousting’s heyday was in the 15th and 16th centuries, with Henry VIII one of its most famous advocates. Historians have recently speculated that the reason Henry became such a cruel and petty tyrant is that jousting injuries brought about a change in his personality... It has been Maryland’s official sport since 1962."

Why Gender-Neutral Child-Raising Is A Terrible Idea - "Our schools medicate boys into convenient passivity instead of channeling their natural energy. School curricula and pedagogy play to the strengths of girls. More distressing still, people seem to be losing interest in boys. Adoption agencies have trouble placing them... The neglect of boys is a longstanding problem, but its latest front may be the most toxic we’ve yet seen. Under the label “gender-neutral parenting,” liberals are now trying to liberate boys from boyhood... For evidence of how “neutral” modern parents really are, consider Michelle, a lesbian parent, who publicly admits she regularly battles her young son’s interest in being a boy. “I’m constantly like trying to queer my relationship with him and get him to wear tutus. He hates it. He’s just like, ‘no,’” she says. Later on in the same video, Michelle laments the tyranny of Old MacDonald being a man. “Why couldn’t it be a lesbian farmer?” she wonders. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad... are we still permitted to tell our sons that their boyhood is something good and meaningful? Are we still permitted to teach them that manhood is worth earning?"

Are Indians by nature unhygienic? - "There is no point in getting infuriated or defensive about this. The general lack of cleanliness and hygiene hits the eye wherever one goes in India — hotels, hospitals, households, work places, railway trains, airplanes and, yes, temples. Indians think nothing of spitting whenever they like and wherever they choose, and living in surroundings which they themselves make unliveable by their dirty habits. The Indian Public Health Association has regularly been reporting the “scary situation” in Indian hotels, restaurants and eateries. The last, in particular, do not follow hygienic practices, use unclean containers, utensils and cups and plates and are often located near open drains or garbage bins... Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh courted a controversy with his remark that India needed more toilets than temples"

The black cop who has a problem with 'Black Lives Matter' - "Stalien expressed his frustration that his efforts to investigate black-on-black violence and bring the culprits to justice had met with outright hostility from the very community he sought to protect. "They called me 'Uncle Tom', and 'wanna be white boy', and I couldn't understand why," he wrote."

I Sometimes Don't Want to Be White Either - "There was a time in my 20s when everything I learned about the history of racism made me hate myself, my Whiteness, my ancestors... and my descendants. I remember deciding that I couldn’t have biological children because I didn’t want to propagate my privilege biologically. If I was going to pass on my privilege, I wanted to pass it on to someone who doesn’t have racial privilege; so I planned to adopt. I disliked my Whiteness, but I disliked the Whiteness of other White people more. I felt like the way to really end racism was to feel guilty for it, and to make other White people feel guilty for it too"Keywords: white guilt

Beware of Kafkatrapping - "The accuser states, "Your refusal to acknowledge that you are guilty of (sin, racism, sexism, homophobia, oppression…) confirms that you are guilty of (sin, racism, sexism, homophobia, oppression…)." Harking back to The Trial, Raymond explains how the novel's plot parallels the structure and purpose of the accuser's nonargument. No specific acts are named in the accusation, which makes the claim unfalsifiable. The vague charge constitutes a thought crime, which also makes it unfalsifiable. As with The Trial, the process seems designed to create guilt and to destroy resistance so that you become malleable. Indeed, "the only way out … is … to acquiesce in his own destruction." Even if you are innocent, the only path to redemption is for you to plead guilty and accept punishment. Ideally, for the accuser, you even come to believe in your own guilt... A separate problem arises if the accuser honestly believes the kafkatrapping. A woman who believes all men are oppressors is unlikely to cooperate with them in a good will attempt to solve social problems. She is more likely to seek a position of dominance over men, which she justifies in the name of self-defense or as a payback that is her due. This heightens tension between the sexes and obstructs sincere attempts to resolve problems. A kafkatrapper true believer becomes increasingly isolated from people who are seen as "the enemy" because they disagree; the true believer becomes increasingly unable to even communicate with or have empathy for a broad spectrum of people"

How Feminism Makes Women More Vulnerable to Rape - "it is easy to see how the naive boosterism of feminism has backfired. Feminists' inability to condemn excessive drinking, the push for affirmative consent laws, and the focus on women's passivity have all increased the likelihood for rape to occur, despite good intentions. This must end"Since the writer is female, feminists presumably won't call her a rapist for thinking affirmative consent is a bad idea

Can the US end its addiction to painkillers? - "She kicked prescription painkillers and other drugs six months ago. But in the back of her mind are euphoric memories of opioid stupors and the knowledge that a doctor nearby will write a prescription any time she asks. "They didn't ask me too many questions because I've been in three car accidents and I have extremely bad migraines due to my neck pain, so I can get Percocet whenever I want," Kearney-Argow, 23, told Al Jazeera, referring to a strong pain reliever that can also give a high. "Even if that wasn't true and I told the doctor that, they would prescribe it to me anyway. It's too easy to get any opiates down here.""

The SJW mental disorder? - "One thing I have noticed is that a lot of these blogs proudly state their supposed mental disorders. It just makes me wonder, are these people just mentally not well? I know it's a stretch, but do they ever actually step back and go "hey, we are all kinda mental here, maybe our ideas aren't on the most solid of grounds?". They all gather together with the intent purpose of being victimized or oppressed. They all want the world to conform and change to their very specific worldview, and if anyone criticises them, they go full nuclear. There are just a range of patterns that I see forming, and they all stand out as being very mentally unstable. This has the danger of going meta as hell here. Could there in fact be a SJW mental disorder?"
"I also found the article on narcissistic defense mechanisms very telling"
"You just list all your perceived disabilities and disadvantages in your "about" section to gain oppression points. Then you can trade in those points for credibility when someone disagrees with you.
umblr is actually just a big MMORPG. You join a faction (radfem, transfat, redpiller, black seperatist, etc.) and conduct raids on the blogs of other less oppressed factions. Whoever has the most oppression points gets to type the same phrase over and over again in ALL CAPS and wins."

The Over-Sexualization Of Harley Quinn - "she is far from a strong female character, and she is not someone any girl should aspire to be. Quite the opposite, actually... Harley Quinn was never meant to be a character that merited imitation. She was meant to teach young girls about the dangers of domestic violence and to be an example of what not to be. She is a tragic character."

Parody ad campaign for Taiwan tourism celebrates plummeting number of mainland tourists - "The series of mock tourism ad photos boasts beautifully shot backdrops from all around Taiwan. Typical phrases meant to inspire tourists from abroad to come and visit like -- "All this awaits you!" -- are absent, replaced with a single sardonic slogan in English -- "Welcome to Taiwan, without Chinese!" For good measure, the parody ads also include some phrases in Chinese like: "No more trouble caused by Chinese tourists, A carefree journey begins here" and "Without Chinese tourists, it's now possibly to relax in the most popular destinations.""

Chilcot Report and the delusions of Western democracy - "Now, when this very democratically elected UK prime minister cheated, lied, fabricated false evidence, engaged in massive propaganda, went on a rampage about "terrorism" in order to join the United States to invade Iraq, was he the military strongman of a Third World dictatorship or was he in fact the democratically elected prime minister of a Western liberal democracy?...
Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies ad Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York."To limit myself just to the first 3 leaps of logic that come to mind:
1) As per the Chilcot Report, "There were no lies - there was no deceit"
2) Blair and Bush neither intended nor commissioned the murder of "hundreds of thousands". You might as well blame Albert Einstein for making the atomic bomb possible and so being responsible for Hiroshima and Nagasaki
3) Many sections of the press were openly skeptical - indeed hostile, to the Iraq War, even before it started
I hope his research isn't as badly argued as this

Glasgow mosque leader praises extremist killer - "The religious leader at Scotland's biggest mosque has praised an extremist who was executed for committing murder in Pakistan, the BBC can reveal. Imam Maulana Habib Ur Rehman of Glasgow Central Mosque used the messaging platform WhatsApp to show his support for Mumtaz Qadri. Qadri was hanged in February after murdering a local politician who opposed strict blasphemy laws... Maulana Habib Ur Rehman is the most senior imam at Glasgow Central Mosque, a role which involves leading prayers and giving religious guidance and teachings... The support for Qadri expressed in the UK by some Muslims from a group within Islam that is generally regarded as moderate was unexpected. Those supporting his actions came from within Sunni Islam, and a group known as Barelvis, who control just under 40% of mosques in the UK. These Sufis are not generally connected with jihadist groups, and present themselves in Pakistan and elsewhere as defenders of a moderate, peaceful Islam. However, on the day of Qadri's funeral, one of the co-directors of the Association of British Muslims, Paul Salahuddin-Armstrong, was so shocked by comments on social media in the UK praising the killer that he wrote a blog post. "Horrified… I honestly don't know where to begin," he said. He said he was also "appalled" to find a prominent mosque in Birmingham - the Ghamkol Sharif - had termed Qadri a "martyr" on its website... the Imam refers to Qadri as "brother" and says that, by killing his employer whom he was paid to protect, he was "carrying out the collective responsibility of the ummat," or Muslims as a whole. His execution, he says, "is a collective failure of Pakistani Muslims"... The Imam also likens Qadri's actions to those fighting Nazi occupation during World War Two."

China tells Japan to stop interfering in South China Sea - "Meeting in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, Li told Abe that China's stance on the South China Sea was completely in line with international law, state news agency Xinhua reported. "Japan is not a state directly involved in the South China Sea issue, and thus should exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering", Li said, according to Xinhua. Japan's Kyodo news agency said Abe told Li that a rules-based international order must be respected. The agency also said Abe and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had agreed the ruling must be observed."International law = obeying China

Singapore’s Response to Family Violence: 1997 to 2007— what comes next? Accessibility & Dissemination - "The most notable information is that Indians are clearly over-represented (Malays and Others may also be, however this is less clear) and Chinese are underrepresented, in comparison with populations levels, of those seeking services... Historically and currently, the out-of-bound markers for public dialogue have built a fence around addressing cultural issues in any way that would undermine racial harmony (Chia, 2005). However, we are ignoring “the elephant in the room” if we remain silent on the role of culture in family violence."How can we blame this on Chinese Privilege?

Leaked document says 2,000 men allegedly assaulted 1,200 German women on New Year’s Eve - "Officials have linked the sexual assaults to the influx of refugees. "There is a connection between the emergence of this phenomenon and the rapid migration in 2015," Holger Münch, president of the German Federal Crime Police Office, told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Many suspects had originally come to Germany from North African countries rather than Syria, officials said."

Home Office told: 'Don't eat in front of Muslims during Ramadan' - "the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, which claims to be fighting a ‘political jihad against Islamophobia’, attacked the document. It said: “It is designed to create more hatred in the hearts of non-Muslims. We don’t care how much non-Muslims eat in front of us. “It’s never been an issue and never will be and we have never asked for any special treatment or sensitivity from non-Muslims whilst fasting.”"

'They have a lot of terms and conditions' - "All over Singapore, hawker stalls are suffering the same plight - a shortage of manpower... "Singaporeans want to sleep until 8, but by 8 we've started work. I beg you to let us hire foreigners""

English Heritage 'deadly serious' about bid to get jousting into Olympics - "jousting should be seen as England’s first national sport. Jousting’s heyday was in the 15th and 16th centuries, with Henry VIII one of its most famous advocates. Historians have recently speculated that the reason Henry became such a cruel and petty tyrant is that jousting injuries brought about a change in his personality... It has been Maryland’s official sport since 1962."

Why Gender-Neutral Child-Raising Is A Terrible Idea - "Our schools medicate boys into convenient passivity instead of channeling their natural energy. School curricula and pedagogy play to the strengths of girls. More distressing still, people seem to be losing interest in boys. Adoption agencies have trouble placing them... The neglect of boys is a longstanding problem, but its latest front may be the most toxic we’ve yet seen. Under the label “gender-neutral parenting,” liberals are now trying to liberate boys from boyhood... For evidence of how “neutral” modern parents really are, consider Michelle, a lesbian parent, who publicly admits she regularly battles her young son’s interest in being a boy. “I’m constantly like trying to queer my relationship with him and get him to wear tutus. He hates it. He’s just like, ‘no,’” she says. Later on in the same video, Michelle laments the tyranny of Old MacDonald being a man. “Why couldn’t it be a lesbian farmer?” she wonders. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad... are we still permitted to tell our sons that their boyhood is something good and meaningful? Are we still permitted to teach them that manhood is worth earning?"

Are Indians by nature unhygienic? - "There is no point in getting infuriated or defensive about this. The general lack of cleanliness and hygiene hits the eye wherever one goes in India — hotels, hospitals, households, work places, railway trains, airplanes and, yes, temples. Indians think nothing of spitting whenever they like and wherever they choose, and living in surroundings which they themselves make unliveable by their dirty habits. The Indian Public Health Association has regularly been reporting the “scary situation” in Indian hotels, restaurants and eateries. The last, in particular, do not follow hygienic practices, use unclean containers, utensils and cups and plates and are often located near open drains or garbage bins... Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh courted a controversy with his remark that India needed more toilets than temples"

The black cop who has a problem with 'Black Lives Matter' - "Stalien expressed his frustration that his efforts to investigate black-on-black violence and bring the culprits to justice had met with outright hostility from the very community he sought to protect. "They called me 'Uncle Tom', and 'wanna be white boy', and I couldn't understand why," he wrote."

I Sometimes Don't Want to Be White Either - "There was a time in my 20s when everything I learned about the history of racism made me hate myself, my Whiteness, my ancestors... and my descendants. I remember deciding that I couldn’t have biological children because I didn’t want to propagate my privilege biologically. If I was going to pass on my privilege, I wanted to pass it on to someone who doesn’t have racial privilege; so I planned to adopt. I disliked my Whiteness, but I disliked the Whiteness of other White people more. I felt like the way to really end racism was to feel guilty for it, and to make other White people feel guilty for it too"Keywords: white guilt

Beware of Kafkatrapping - "The accuser states, "Your refusal to acknowledge that you are guilty of (sin, racism, sexism, homophobia, oppression…) confirms that you are guilty of (sin, racism, sexism, homophobia, oppression…)." Harking back to The Trial, Raymond explains how the novel's plot parallels the structure and purpose of the accuser's nonargument. No specific acts are named in the accusation, which makes the claim unfalsifiable. The vague charge constitutes a thought crime, which also makes it unfalsifiable. As with The Trial, the process seems designed to create guilt and to destroy resistance so that you become malleable. Indeed, "the only way out … is … to acquiesce in his own destruction." Even if you are innocent, the only path to redemption is for you to plead guilty and accept punishment. Ideally, for the accuser, you even come to believe in your own guilt... A separate problem arises if the accuser honestly believes the kafkatrapping. A woman who believes all men are oppressors is unlikely to cooperate with them in a good will attempt to solve social problems. She is more likely to seek a position of dominance over men, which she justifies in the name of self-defense or as a payback that is her due. This heightens tension between the sexes and obstructs sincere attempts to resolve problems. A kafkatrapper true believer becomes increasingly isolated from people who are seen as "the enemy" because they disagree; the true believer becomes increasingly unable to even communicate with or have empathy for a broad spectrum of people"

How Feminism Makes Women More Vulnerable to Rape - "it is easy to see how the naive boosterism of feminism has backfired. Feminists' inability to condemn excessive drinking, the push for affirmative consent laws, and the focus on women's passivity have all increased the likelihood for rape to occur, despite good intentions. This must end"Since the writer is female, feminists presumably won't call her a rapist for thinking affirmative consent is a bad idea

Can the US end its addiction to painkillers? - "She kicked prescription painkillers and other drugs six months ago. But in the back of her mind are euphoric memories of opioid stupors and the knowledge that a doctor nearby will write a prescription any time she asks. "They didn't ask me too many questions because I've been in three car accidents and I have extremely bad migraines due to my neck pain, so I can get Percocet whenever I want," Kearney-Argow, 23, told Al Jazeera, referring to a strong pain reliever that can also give a high. "Even if that wasn't true and I told the doctor that, they would prescribe it to me anyway. It's too easy to get any opiates down here.""

The SJW mental disorder? - "One thing I have noticed is that a lot of these blogs proudly state their supposed mental disorders. It just makes me wonder, are these people just mentally not well? I know it's a stretch, but do they ever actually step back and go "hey, we are all kinda mental here, maybe our ideas aren't on the most solid of grounds?". They all gather together with the intent purpose of being victimized or oppressed. They all want the world to conform and change to their very specific worldview, and if anyone criticises them, they go full nuclear. There are just a range of patterns that I see forming, and they all stand out as being very mentally unstable. This has the danger of going meta as hell here. Could there in fact be a SJW mental disorder?"
"I also found the article on narcissistic defense mechanisms very telling"
"You just list all your perceived disabilities and disadvantages in your "about" section to gain oppression points. Then you can trade in those points for credibility when someone disagrees with you.
umblr is actually just a big MMORPG. You join a faction (radfem, transfat, redpiller, black seperatist, etc.) and conduct raids on the blogs of other less oppressed factions. Whoever has the most oppression points gets to type the same phrase over and over again in ALL CAPS and wins."

The Over-Sexualization Of Harley Quinn - "she is far from a strong female character, and she is not someone any girl should aspire to be. Quite the opposite, actually... Harley Quinn was never meant to be a character that merited imitation. She was meant to teach young girls about the dangers of domestic violence and to be an example of what not to be. She is a tragic character."

Parody ad campaign for Taiwan tourism celebrates plummeting number of mainland tourists - "The series of mock tourism ad photos boasts beautifully shot backdrops from all around Taiwan. Typical phrases meant to inspire tourists from abroad to come and visit like -- "All this awaits you!" -- are absent, replaced with a single sardonic slogan in English -- "Welcome to Taiwan, without Chinese!" For good measure, the parody ads also include some phrases in Chinese like: "No more trouble caused by Chinese tourists, A carefree journey begins here" and "Without Chinese tourists, it's now possibly to relax in the most popular destinations.""